‘Ancient jigsaw puzzle’ finally solved — and reveals ‘exceptionally rare’ Roman armor

Moira Ritter
·2 min read
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In 1906, a trove of more than 100 brass and leather treasures was unearthed from the site of an ancient Roman fort in Scotland.

Since then, the fragments — which once made up a piece of armor — have remained in the National Museums Scotland’s collection. One part of the discovery went on display at the museum about 25 years ago and another portion was loaned to another museum.

Pieces of the armor were first discovered at the site of a Roman fort in 1906, the museum said.
Pieces of the armor were first discovered at the site of a Roman fort in 1906, the museum said.

The remaining parts of the armor stayed in the National Museums’ collection center. That is until now, the museum said in a Jan. 21 news release.

Museum conservators have finally pieced together the “ancient jigsaw puzzle,” reconstructing what is now a full piece of “exceptionally rare” Roman armor known as an arm guard, officials said. The guard is the “most intact example of its kind and one of only three known from the whole Roman Empire.”

The bronze arm guard may have been influenced by gladiators, according to experts.
The bronze arm guard may have been influenced by gladiators, according to experts.

Experts said the armor, which dates to the second century, is in “remarkably good condition.”

“This is an incredibly rare object,” Fraser Hunter, the museum’s principal curator of prehistoric and Roman archaeology, said in the release. “Now that it’s been reconstructed, you can picture the legionary who once wore it. It was both protection and status symbol – brass was expensive and would have gleamed like gold on his sword arm.”

The rare armor is in “remarkably good condition,” the museum said.
The rare armor is in “remarkably good condition,” the museum said.

The armor would have covered a legionary’s arm from their shoulder to their hand, where the brass ended in a thin square piece to protect the wearer’s hand, the museum said. Its design might have been inspired by gladiators’ equipment.

“The flexible armguard is an iconic piece of equipment for Roman gladiators, so it is unusual to see it as a sword-arm protection for Roman soldiers too,” Richard Abdy, the British Museum’s curator of Roman and Iron Age coins said in the release. “We even think that the training regime for the amphitheatre originally inspired combat training of the professionalising Roman army.”

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